Wallflowers: Three of a Kind Paperback – November 15, 2016

What an exciting and emotional romance read. Calla Lily named after a flower, has spent most of her life being raised by her aunts after her parents died. There is a story to her that , I don’t want to give too much away but there is a big back story behind them raising her.Being a young woman, Calla lived a life hidden in the shadows. She chose to stay back and part of the scenery and not be in front and living life. She is a bookworm and has her dream job working for a publishing company. She is so beautiful yet she doesn’t realize it, she is an “original”. Her aunts are lovable and keep her grounded and loved. And they keep trying to set her up with a man, which is a hoot because Calla doesn’t want a man until she sees who the new tenant is. But she doesn’t think she is worthy for him.Devin Hawthorne is the new tenant and boy he is hawt. He moves in next door to Calla , he is 6’3” , is a self-employed Private Investigator, has a sexy southern accent, very good manners , loves motorcycles and has a thing for Calla which at first Calla doesn’t realize.Calla and her friends, Sienna and Poppy, form the Wallflowers (which all started at a company picnic-this is a must read moment in the book). I have to say reading their story in the book is full of humor and hilarity. They are naïve about life and about reality in general but they are darn cute in the scheme of things, that I fell totally in love with them all and got the biggest kick of them whenever they got ideas on how to do things. The gleam in their eyes when a “plan” came up or when they had ideas and were going to do it…yup, things were coming together –OMG…so funny and then when they guys decided to get involved and put a stop to the womens’ plans—You know who Devin is, then we have Nate is his BF from College and owns the bar.And Bo, a local Police Officer working with Devin on the current case. These men are going to get their women and keep them safe.Calla has stumbled onto the came crime that Devin is trying to solve and that puts her in trouble and on top of that, she is trying to determine what it is she wants in life now that she is determined to NOT stand by and life pass her by, her and her GFs. I loved this story, loved how she took life by the lapels and grasped it and pulled hard and decided to go full throttle. The murder mystery that also is in this story was fantastic –the supporting characters’ in this story made this so much more enjoyable and I cannot wait for the next story in the Wallflowers series.My Rating: 4.9 stars *****"I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

Set against the lush backdrop of historic Savannah, Georgia, this story open with a young woman named Calla Armstrong watching her new neighbor exercise in the courtyard of their apartment complex from a hiding spot in a lilac bush. Weighed down by years of guilt from losing her parents and brother at a young age, she has avoided starting new relationships to protect her already fragile heart. With encouragement from her feisty aunts, she vows to make new friends and open her heart to the possibility of the kind of romantic love she reads about in the books she edits for a living at a local publishing house. It doesn’t take long for her to find two kindred spirits in Poppy and Sienna, a pair of coworkers, at a company picnic. The trio dub themselves “The Wallflowers” and promise to help each other find the happiness they crave and so richly deserve.Former homicide detective Devin Hawthorne left Atlanta to begin a new career as a PI. When Calla introduces herself to him, their attraction is both instantaneous, unmistakable, and powerful. Misconceptions lead to assumptions that each of them are already spoken for, but a missing persons case involving one of her aunts’ employees brings Calla and Devin together when their paths cross while she and the other Wallflowers conduct their own investigation. A series of clues and evidence put Calla in the hot seat as she becomes a person of interest.As the case evolves, Devin and Calla quickly learn that deceit runs deep, old wounds don’t always heal, and the past doesn’t always stay left behind. It's up to them and their most-trusted friends to find the truth and prevent any further tragedies from occurring.This is a powerhouse of a story. CP Smith expertly wove together all of the elements I love into this novel: humor, emotion, heat, wit, and suspense. I lost count of the number of times I burst into laughter due to clever and witty banter between the characters and their hilarious shenanigans. There were several instances when I wanted to reach into my ereader and grab a character by the throat for acting like a jerk. The mystery surrounding the missing persons case kept me guessing right up until it was solved. I literally gasped out loud at that point because each and every one of my suspicions had been wrong. I can usually predict an outcome, but I was duped this time. And I *love* it. To me, this is the true sign of a well-plotted storyline. The steamy scenes were well-placed, tasteful, and hot enough to make me grab a nearby magazine and fan myself.And the best part of all is that this is the first book in a series! We still have Poppy and Sienna’s stories to look forward to. I’m already eager to see what will happen in each of them, and my fingers are crossed that we get to see what Devin and Calla are up to as well.